1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
The inventors of the present application filed Japanese Patent Application No. 11-138558 and the corresponding European Patent Application No. 00 110 204.5, which relate to a connector with means for locking two housings into each other. The locking means is concealed inside to make it difficult to disengage the housings from the outside. This connector of JP 11-138558 also is shown in FIGS. 11(A) and 11(B) of this application, and is comprised of a male connector housing 101 and a female connector housing 102. A lock arm 103 is provided in the male housing 101 for locking the female connector housing 102. A slider 104 also is provided in the male housing 101 for holding the lock arm 103 in a position where the lock arm 103 can lock the female connector housing 102. The slider 104 is provided with compression coil springs (not shown) for accumulating biasing forces that act in a direction to separate the female connector housing 102 from the male connector housing 101 as the female connector housing 102 is fitted into the male connector housing 101.
A locking surface 103A at the leading end of the lock arm 103 engages the female connector housing 102 when the female connector housing 102 is connected properly with the male connector housing. Simultaneously, the slider 104 is displaced to the left of FIG. 11, where a displacement of the lock arm 103 in its disengaging direction is restricted by a pressing surface 104A of the slider 104. As a result, the connector housings 101, 102 are locked into each other (see FIG. 11(B)).
If the slider 104 is slid to the right of FIG. 11 in this locked state, the accumulated forces of the unillustrated compression coil springs are increased, and the restriction on the displacement of the lock arm 103 by the slider 104 is released. Accordingly, the lock arm 103 is displaced in the upward direction of FIG. 11 by a pushing force from the female connector housing 102. As a result, the female connector housing 102 is pushed out of the male connector housing 101 by the accumulated forces of the compression coil springs (see FIG. 11(A)).
The above-described lock arm 103 is concealed inside the male housing 101 to make it difficult to disengage the lock arm 103 from outside. Additionally, the lock arm 103 has both a locking function and an unlocking function. Specifically, the locking surface 103A of the lock arm 103 is slightly oblique with respect to a direction normal to a disengaging direction of the female connector housing 102. Thus, the pushing force from the female connector housing 102 on the inclined locking surface 103A displaces the lock arm 103 upward and disengages the lock arm 103 from the female connector housing 102 to effect unlocking.
The inclined locking surface 103A of the lock arm 103 is desirable in view of the unlocking function, but not desirable in view of the locking function.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem, and an object thereof is to secure the reliability of a locking function of a lock arm.